UPSC 2022: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz May 21 - May 27

• Chipko Movement took place in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
• Inspired by the Chipko movement, Appiko Movement was organized in the state of Karnataka.
• Save Silent Valley movement was an environmental movement organized to protest against the hydroelectric project in the Silent Valley Forest in Kerala.
• Jungle Bachao Andolan was organized by the tribals in Bihar’s Singhbum district.

Viruses can infect all types of life forms including bacteria, fungi, plants, animals and other micro-organisms.

• Cabinet Secretary chairs the National Crisis Management Committee.
• NCMC and Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) are the key committees involved in the top-level decision-making with respect to Disaster Management (DM).
• NCMC coordinates the activities of the ministries in the central government and the state governments in ensuring disaster preparedness and relief operations.

• Sipralling Whitefly (Aleurodicus disperses) is an invasive species native to Caribbean islands or Central America or both.
• It predates upon fruit plants, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, vegetables etc. However, it does not feed on entomopathogenic fungi.
• Entomopathogenic fungi is one of the measures used in controlling Sipralling Whitefly. The Entomopathogenic fungi kill and feed on Spiralling Whiteflies.
• First reported in Kerala in 1995, it is now distributed throughout India except for Jammu and Kashmir.

• Genome sequencing helps in understanding the role of mutations in increasing the virus’s infectivity.
• The Coronavirus genome is made of RNA.
• The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project that led to the decoding of the entire human genome.
• Inspired by Human Genome Project (HGP), India started the Genome India Project

Cyclones             Suggested by

1. Yaas                             Oman
2. Nisarga                   Bangladesh
3. Nivar                             Iran
4. Burevi                        Maldives

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has 103 members.
• For Asian or Non-Asian members, the allocated shares in the bank are based on the size of each member country’s economy.
• China is the largest shareholder in the bank followed by India.
• The bank has members from outside Asia as well.

• The Baul are a group of mystic minstrels or poets of mixed elements of Sufism and Sahaja from Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley of Assam.
• They belong to a devotional tradition influenced by Vaishnavism, Buddhism and Sufism.
• In 2008, Baul songs were listed under UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

• Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Barren Island is the only active volcano in India.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is a UN agency. Although the IAEA is an independent international organisation, it reports annually to the UNGA.
• It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
• IAEA was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, along with its former Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei. 

• G-Secs are of two types: Treasury bills with maturity less than a year and G-Secs with maturity of more than a year.
• Treasury bill is one such money market instrument that the government issues for the short-term requirement of funds. Only the government of India can issue treasury bills.
• Dated securities can be issued by both the state government as well as the central government.
• Treasury bills are issued at a discount to their true (PAR) value and upon expiry, it’s redeemed at its true value. Dated securities are not issued at a discount on their PAR value.
• G-Secs can be used as collateral to borrow funds in the repo market.

• The National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) is a quality assurance framework. It is a nationally integrated education and competency-based skill framework that will provide for multiple pathways, horizontal as well as vertical, both within vocational education and vocational training, and among vocational education, vocational training, general education and technical education, thus linking one level of learning to another higher level.
• Hence, the learner is not restricted to acquiring the certification for competency through formal learning only.
• NSQF will also provide facilities for multiple entry and exit between skill training, vocational education, job markets, general and technical education.
• An outcome expected from the implementation of NSQF is the mobility between vocational and general education.

• Chairperson of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is a non-voting permanent invitee to all proceedings of the GST Council.
• Each state has one vote, irrespective of its size or population.
• In the GST Council meetings, half of the total number of Members of the Council constitutes the quorum.

• Dumping of Iron in the upper ocean leads to phytoplankton bloom which is known as Iron Fertilization. The phytoplankton uses carbon dioxide in the air and converts it to carbohydrates. This helps in carbon sequestration.
• The organic content in the soil increases due to crop rotation fostering carbon sequestration.
• The animal and plant material are deposited in deep sea are a part of the ocean food web. The carbon thus sequestered in the deep sea is removed during deep sea fishing. This does not facilitate carbon sequestration.

• CBI Director is appointed as per the Lokpal Act.
• The search committee that recommends the name of CBI director to be appointed, to the centre comprises the Prime Minister as the chairperson, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition.
  • In the absence of the Leader of Opposition, the Leader of the largest opposition party.

Mucormycosis, candida, aspergillosis, cryptococcus, histoplasmosis and coccidioidomycosis are all fungal infections.

Read more on Mucormycosis.

• In tropical regions, Zika virus disease is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito – the same mosquito that transmits dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya.
• Zika virus is also transmitted through sexual contact, transfusion of blood, during organ transplantation and from mother to foetus during pregnancy.

• Tsunami’s originate in deep sea under impact of crustal movement.
• Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth. The rotation of the earth gives rise to centrifugal forces.

• Mangroves play a critical role in the environment. The help in the following ways.
  • Stabilize the coastal shores and help limit coastal erosion.
  • Enhance the natural recycling of nutrients.
  • Act as carbon sinks and hence play a critical role in carbon cycle of the environment
  • By reducing the rate of flow of water it helps reduce the turbidity of water.

4, 2, 1, 3 (Amini, Agatti, Minicoy, Kavaratti)

• The Tri-ratna or (three ratnas) of Buddhism comprises the Buddha, the dharma (doctrine, or teaching), and the sangha (the monastic order, or community).

• The eight elements of the eight fold path (Buddha’s Ashtangamarga) includes the following:

• 1. Right livelihood
  2. Right observation
  3. Right determination
  4. Right action
  5. Right meditation
  6. Right exercise
  7. Right speech
  8. Right memory

• Buddhism was divided into two major sects (Mahayana and the Theravada) upon the death of Gautama Buddha. The division was not made by Buddha.

• Net metering is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid.
• The provision for earning from solar energy production incentivizes consumers to install solar energy systems.

• National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is an extra-constitutional body i.e statutory body.
• NH1 extends between the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• The number 1 indicates, under the new numbering system, that it is the northernmost East-West highway in India.
• NH 1 passes from Uri to Baramulla, Srinagar, Sonamarg, Zoji La, Dras, Kargil and Leh.
• At present, NH44 is the longest National Highway in India.

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a central counter-terrorism agency functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• The agency is allowed to investigate offences committed outside India.
• NIA can investigate terror cases across the country without having to get permission from the states.

Read more on National Investigation Agency – Objectives, Functions, Jurisdiction

The membership of the International solar alliance is not restricted to the countries which are partially or fully located within the tropics (Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn).
Any member country of the United Nations is eligible for ISA membership.

• Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) was launched by the Prime Minister of India at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019.
• Its secretariat is based in New Delhi.
• A large share of the estimated fund requirements to cover the core costs for the first five years was invested by India.

Venture capital (VC) is a long-term start-up capital provided to new entrepreneurs.
VC is an investment fund that is involved in managing money from different investors seeking to provide capital to new entrepreneurs and start-ups that have immense growth potential.

INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.

• Red Notice: To seek the location/arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to his/her extradition.
• Blue Notice: To locate, identify or obtain information on a person of interest in a criminal investigation.
• Green Notice: To warn about a person’s criminal activities if that person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.
• Yellow Notice: To locate a missing person or to identify a person unable to identify himself/herself.
• Black Notice: To seek information on unidentified bodies.
• Orange Notice: To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing an imminent threat and danger to persons or property.
• Purple Notice: To provide information on modus operandi, procedures, objects, devices, or hiding places used by criminals.

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) is a group of countries in the Caribbean.
It is an economic and political community that works together to shape policies for the region and encourages economic growth and trade.
The organisation was established in 1973.
The secretariat headquarters is in Georgetown, Guyana. CARICOM is an official United Nations Observer.

• Rabindranath Tagore was ideologically opposed to the Non-cooperation movement.
• He opined that it presented a more isolationist view of India. Rabindranath Tagore argued that violent nationalism (burning foreign clothes) would destroy civilization itself. Rather he supported the creative programmes.
• He wrote an essay – ‘The Cult of the Charkha’ – which offered a critique on the Gandhian ethic of “charkha-spinning” as an activity that could rejuvenate the Indian masses during the Indian independence movement.